But I thought Partnership for a Tobacco Free Maine wanted a smoke free state? If that were so, where would Baldacci and his ilk go to fill their coffers if there were no more smokers??
Can anyone answer me that?
What about the billions of tax dollars being fed into Maine by smokers via the Tobacco Settlement money? How much blood money does this administration want to bled out of one group of people that live in this state??
Click here to find out just how much Maine smokers already contribute to the state. What is fair is fair and this is totally unjust!
The Maine lawmakers talk out of both sides of their mouths and I for one am sick and tired of it!
Well, here is one alternative:
Can't stand the high taxes?
Afraid to order off of the Internet?
Then start rolling your own!!!
I roll out a beautiful carton for a little under $8 dollars. Premiums in my state are now up to $45-$50 a carton. Can you imagine the money I have saved over the past 4 years since I now roll my own? It's mind boggling.
under $50.00
$5.75 a bag
$1.99 for 200 filtered tubes
and
I don't live in Maine I live in "tobacco friendly" North Carolina but I agree whole heartedly. If tobacco were soooo deadly why isn't it banned? Answer...Tax revenue. The feds banned ephedra last year after 100 people died over 10 years by that standard we would be banning cars too. The hypocrisy is sickening.
Earth to Peggy - NO you haven't.
And I hope you're sitting down for this one Peggy.....
Have a nice day you ijit dem.
The black market and organized crime thanks the Maine legislatures...
The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other peoples' money to spend.
Just try this with beer
"In order to cut more we were going to have to get into those programs that provide health insurance for some of the poorest people in the state - the working poor,"
Slipping Socialized Medicine under the door? Don't be fooled by the hackneyed "working poor".....
Maine smokers might actually quit smoking or at least cut down the number of cigarettes they smoke or more likely will buy their cigarettes from cheaper sources such as from the Internet, in Indian reservation smoke shops or from bootleggers. This increase in tax will likely decrease the revenue raised and create a need for expensive tax enforcement.
The old story of the goose that laid the golden egg is very applicable here.
http://www.maine.gov/portal/facts_history/facts.html
Facts About Maine
Fast Facts
Population of Maine in 2000: 1,274,923
With a $5,700,000,000 budget, that comes to about $4,470.86 per resident. They would be better off just sending checks to every resident for $4,000.
But wait, then they wouldn't be able to employ all the useless folks in good government jobs.
Deferring salary increases for state employees puts the burden on an even smaller number of people. Please explain why those folks should absorb what amounts to a tax increase for them?
Let's see, 250mil divided by 5.7 bils is less than 5% - how does that qualify as "deep spending cuts"? And I bet anything the budget actually increased, so probably the so-called cuts would be a cut on the increase not actual cuts.
20 bucks a cartoon in tax, and here we are 30 miles or less from conway.
How many cartoons can you get in the back of a 3/4 ton pick up?
Now, I know it sounds as if I'm making light of this, but, I've got to tell you, I one time interviewed a man who was in jail for smuggling, he told me that the only things he smuggled were things folks wanted that were legal to use, like cigarettes, he made millions before he got sloppy and caught.
He got caught smuggling booze out of canada and into New York. Got two years if memory serves me. Actually it was kind of funny how he got caught. He was dragging a sled full of cases of booze across the St. Johns river with a snowmobile loaded with cases of booze when he went through the ice.
Hes out now, wonder if I can find him might be fun to put up some of his tricks of the trade, then of course, Bob would fire me. No, he cant do that, Im free labor.
Jake
We can expect an upturn in cigarette-related violence.
Who needs Ipecac when these people are around?
What goes around comes around.......ROFLMAO!
Let that be a lesson to you nico-nazis reading this thread......
That's nice indeed.
When everything else fails, suck it to the smokers.
Bonus!!! New Hampshire will reap the benefits again. Thanks, Mainers!